DuPont Pioneer to open three new research facilities

DuPont Pioneer announced to plans to open three new research facilities—one in Canada, Delaware and Kansas.

DuPont is expected to unveil plans for a new $35 million soybean research facility at its Stine Haskell Research Center in Newark, Del., on Aug. 14, the company reported last week. The facility will be the second of two DuPont Pioneer research facilities in this state. The facility will be about 134,000 square feet, and will include modern greenhouses. It will be mainly for the purpose of developing Pioneer soybean products, DuPont reported.

In addition to the Delaware plant, DuPont also announced a new soybean research center in Lawrence, Kan., to enhance soybean product development and testing efforts for customers in Kansas, southeast Nebraska and western Missouri.

The expansion is part of a global effort by DuPont to reinvest $100 million into its seed business to strengthen and drive commercialization of its pipeline of new products.

"This new center continues to build upon the product performance advantage Pioneer has firmly established in North America," said Dennis Byron, Pioneer vice president of crop product development. "With annual yield increases more than triple the industry average, Pioneer brand soybeans developed with proprietary genetic markers continue to outpace the competition, reinforcing Pioneer as the brand leader in soybean performance."

The new Kansas research center will play a vital role in developing and commercializing new varieties to meet the needs of area customers. Those include varieties with tolerance to drought, soybean cyst nematode, charcoal rot, stem borer, sudden death syndrome, Phytophthora root rot and other insect and disease protection traits. All are significant yield robbers in the geography covered by the new center.

"The research center's breeding program will be rapidly integrating those traits into elite Pioneer germplasm," Byron said. "Locating the center in Lawrence enables our soybean research teams to work more closely with area farmers to make better product advancement decisions that will benefit farmers in Kansas, southeast Nebraska and western Missouri."

With the opening of the Lawrence Soybean Research Center, Pioneer has three crop-specific research locations in Kansas. The other two locations are in Garden City (corn) and Manhattan (sorghum).

In Canada, DuPont Pioneer has begun construction of a new multi-million dollar research facility in Lethbridge, Alberta, focused on developing ultra-early maturity corn products for growers in Alberta and Western Canada.

"This facility supports our commitment to providing growers in Western Canada with more choice through the development of ultra-early corn products that may increase the profitability of their operations," said Steve King, corn research director for DuPont Pioneer.

Construction is underway on the 22,500 sq. foot research facility outside of Lethbridge. Research plots were planted at the site this spring. The building is expected to open in November 2014 and will create additional jobs in the region. In the future, this facility could be expanded to serve other crops or other DuPont businesses as well.

"We are proud to build another Pioneer facility in Lethbridge," said King "Not only is the climate well-suited for product development, but we know first-hand the strength of the community. Our canola production plant has been located here for seven years."